“The music plays in Asia”
The VW decision against its own battery cell production shows that Germany is no longer an option as a location for the industry, writes car industry researcher Ferdinand Dudenhöffer in a commentary for bizz energy. Daimler stopped its own cell production, BMW never tried it, and prominent German suppliers Bosch and Continental buy the cells elsewhere to produce customised batteries. Germany lost its innovative lead in battery technology in the past years because politics and industry didn’t prioritise the issue. “Now it’s too late. The chance is lost,” writes Dudenhöffer, pointing to large Asian industry players. “Cell production is simply too expensive for VW and too far away from the market’s big players […] That ship has sailed, which is sad.”
Read the commentary in German here.